Centrifugal clutch



Oct. 14, 1952 R. CHILTON 2,613,784

CENTRIFUGAL CLUTCH Filed Jan. 24, 1947 2 swam-mm 1 INVENTOR RDLAND EHILTEIN.

ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1952 CHILTON CENTRIFUGAL CLUTCH 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Jan. 24, 1947 ATTORNEY at a predetermined rotative'speedg' v k An object of the inventionflcomprlses thepro- Patented Oct. 14, 1952 Roland ChiltonyfGlen Rock, N. J., assignor to Ourtiss-Wri'gh-t Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Y Applicationjanuary 24, 1947, Serial No. 724,045

' This invention relates to fIiClllOnCllltQhGstIld more particularly directed to a;centrifugal"tyfpe friction clutch arranged to engagea'utomatically vision of a centrifugal friction clutch having a novel and simple construction in which weight means urged radially outwardly by centrifugal force provides an amplifi'edclutch' engaging pressure. A further object of this in'ventioncomprises the provision of an anti-friction construcit'ion for loading'a centrifugal friction clutch whereby, if I desired, the clutch may be operated dry- -thatis, without oil. t The centrifugal clutch of the ihventionv-isiof jgeneral application.

However; as herein disclosed, the clutch is designed'for use ,in an automotive transmission "so as to disconnect the engine from the vehicle driving Wheels at low engine speeds (that is, during engine, idling) and to automatically initiate clutch engagement when the engine speed exceeds a predetermined value of, say 50 R. P. M. Also, itis desirable that, "from the time the clutch starts to engage, only a relatively small increase in;speed-fcr{. example, to 700 R. P. Man-is necessary to apply sufiicient clutch engaging pressure to transmitifull engine 1 tor'que- Accordingly; an object'of this invention comprises' the' provision of 'a centrifugal clutch which, once the clutch starts to engage, requires only a relatively small increase in its rotative speed-to attai'n a clutch engaging pressure sufiicient to prevent slipping of the clutch.

Automotive vehicles are operated over a wide range of engine speeds Which may exceed. 3000 RIP. M. and, since the centrifugal force acting f on the rotatingmeans increases with "the square Yofjthe speed, it is necessary to 'pro'videmeans to "prevent the clutch engaging pressure from. be-

coming excessive in order to prevent damageto the clutch plates. Accordingly, a still further objectof the invention comprises the provision of a novel arrangement to f prevent the clutch engaging :pressure nom "exceeding a predeterminedma'gnitudej v An associated ob'ect' of the invention comprises the provision of a centrifugal clutch inwhi'ch 'a 'firstspring means is provided to prevent engagement of the clutch until its speed of rotation exceeds a predetermined valueand a second spring means is provided-to prevent the clutch engaging pressure from exceedingfa' predetermined value.

A-still further object of the invention comprises an anti-frictionroller and wedge construction 4 claims; (o1. 192-105) 7 plates from the centrifugal force acting on the clutch weights, which construction'can be easily manufactured with the necessary accuracy.-

Other objects of the invention will become ap parent upon reading the annexed detailed description in connection with the drawing in which qFigure 1 is-an axial section taken along line ll of Figure 2 0i a centrifugal clutch embodying-th'e invention;

Figure 2 '2-2 of Figure '1; I I,

ffFigure 3 is a sectional View taken along'line v fi -tot Figure 2;

a flywheel portion of the-clutch; I

"Figure 5 is a sectional View taken'along-li-ne Figure 4 is aschematic perspective 'view of'the 5- -5 ofFigure l';

Figure 6 is aviewof a modified portion of Figvure1;and

Figure '7 is an enlarged-view of a portion of Referring to the drawing, aninput'shaft l0 drivably c onnected to an output shaft 12 by'a centrifugal clutch M. The clutch 3,-il1ustrated in-'the drawing, is designed for use in an automotive transmission with the shaft i i! comprising anl extension of the engine crankshaft and Y Lwith'the shaftzllbeing connected to the vehicle drivingwheelsthrough a multi-speed transmission.; The-,clutchcnd of the shaft is secured to a suitable drumgorflywheel l B by bolts 18; said ,fiywheel having theusual starter gear l l'secur-ed thereto, Aclutchpressure plate 20 and-a clutch backingor retaining..plate;22 are each provided witha. plurality of circumferentially spacedradially extending. driving fingers 2 and, '26, -re-- spectively received within-slots 28 formed inthe rim 3fl of the-flywheel 18.; In this way, thep-lates 20 and .22 are bothdrivably connected to;;t he

shaft Ill. A'ring32 is disposed-aboutthe flywheel rim 3i] forcenteringtheplates?!) and 22. t 1 V Pl t A. clutchplate 34, disposed between th and 2'2, is.secured to a hub 36 splined to-the foutput shaft 12, I jThe clutch plate'sis provided I with a pair of 'fri'ction iaci gs 38.,and 40 secured toitsop'positejsides. I a :4 I 7 As illustrated inTFigures 2, 3;an'd.5, a first set of circumferentially' spaced studs-AZ are secured *to thediscportion ldf of the fiywhe el'l fi, eachdof the studs being] 'c'o-faxi'ally disposed within a "cupshaped 'member' as and extending. through aline d openings 48 and 5 0 in the plates lfl and firespectively. Oneendpf each cup-shaped; member issecured in one of the openings 50 in the sa sectional View taken along'l-ine 3 plate 22 and its other end is provided with an inturned flange 52. The outer end of each stud 42 is provided with an adjustable nut 54 and a spring 56 is disposed between each nut 55 and the flange 52 for urging the retaining plate 22 against a shoulder 58 on the rim 38 of the flywheel.

As illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 5, a second set of circumferentially spaced studs 69 are secured to the flywheel adjacent the first set of studs 42, each of the studs being co-axially disposed within a cup-shaped member 62 and extending through alined openings 64 and G5 inithe plates 29 and 22 respectively. One'end of each cup-shaped member 62 is provided with fan outwardly directed flange 68 engaging the plate 20 about the periphery of the associated hole 65 and the other end of each cup-shaped meinberfizis torque.

provided with an inturned flange 15. The outer end of each stud 6D is provided with a nut 12 and a spring 14 is disposed between each nut 12 and the associated flange 18 for urging the pressure plate 29 away from the retaining plate 22i. e., for urging the clutch 14 to its disengaged condition. 1 1

For automatically engaging the clutch [4, a plurality of radially movable circumferentially spaced weights are disposed between the flywheel disc portion 44 and the pressure plate 2i). Each weight 16 has an enlarged outer portion and inwardly therefromis provided with apair of straight radially spaced grooves 11 and 18 on one side and an oppositely facing pair of grooves 19 and 80 on its opposite side. As illustrated, the grooves are disposed transverse to the clutch axis. The surfaces of the opposite grooves 11 and, 19 and the surfaces of the opposite grooves 18 and 89, respectively, converge toward each other in a radially outward direction to define wedge portions 8| and 82. The disc portion 44 of the flywheel is provided with a plurality of pairs of radially spaced grooves =83 and 84, having their surfaces facing and parallel to the surfaces of the grooves 11 and 18 of its associated weight 16. Simi1arly, the pressure plate 20 is providedwith a plurality of pairs of radially spaced grooves. 85 and 8B having'their surfaces facing and parallel to; the surfaces of the grooves 19 and 80 of its associated weight 16. A'cylindrical roller'90 is disposed between the face of each groove 83, 84, .85 and 86 and the face of the adjacent weight groove 11, 18, 19 and 80.. Guide plates 92 are secured to the flywheel disc portion 44 between the weights 16. The plates .92 have end flanges 94 so disposed that each weight 16 and associated rollers 90 are confined to radial movement by the end flanges 94 of adjacent plates 92.

'With this construction, the weights 16are car- 'ried between, and rotate with,- the flywheel and the' pressure plate 20. Accordingly, upon rotation of the input shaft 10, the weights 1B are urged radially outwardly in response to the centrifugal forces actingthereon. This radially outward movenient of the weights the springs 14 through therollers 90. vAccordingly, as the speed of rotation increases, a speed is reached, depending on the adjustment of the springs 14, at which the centrifugal force acting ongeach weight 16is suflicient to move the weights radially outwardly thereby causing axial move- 'ment of the clutch pressure plate 20 to'the right against the springs 14 to engage the clutch. For 'example, in the case of an automotive transmission,; the clutch may be designed to engage when 16 is resisted by the speed of rotation of the input shaft exceeds 500 R. P. M. As the speed of rotation increases, the axial pressure exerted by the weights against the pressure plate 20 increases rapidly because the centrifugal force acting on each of the weights increases with the square of the speed. Also, in the case of an automotive transmission, it is desirable that only a small increase in speed is necessarybefore the clutch engaging pressure is such that the clutch'can transmit full engine Thus, the clutch may be designed to transmit full engine torque when the speed of rotation of the input shaft l0 exceeds, say, 700 R, P. M.

In order 'toprevent the clutch engaging pressure from becoming excessive at speeds above 700 R. P. M., the pressure-plate springs 56 are adjusted to yield when the speed of rotation of the input shaft In exceeds 100 R. P. M., whereby the springs 56 provide a yielding abutment for the clutch retaining plate 22. That is, when the speed of rotation of the input shaft exceeds 700 R. P. M., the axial clutch engaging pressure moves the retaining plate 22 away from the shoulder 58 against the springs 56 thereby preventingany appreciable further increase in the clutch engaging pressure. Upon an increase in speed, above the speed at which the retaining plate 22 is moved'away from its stop 58, the weights 16 move further radially outwardly until they abut the flywheel rim 30 whereby the centrifugal force acting on the weights 16 is resisted by the flywheel rim and the clutch engaging pressure is a maximum as determined by the adjustment of the pressure plate springs 56. With the weights 16 disposed radially outwardly I against the flywheel rim 39, the retaining plate 22 ismoved to the right to the dashed line 95. This construction automatically compensates for any wear of the clutch parts.

Th tangent ofthe angle of convergence between the surfaces of each of the wedge sections 18 and 8!] is made smallfor example, is equal to' r-whereby, when the retaining plate 22 is 'held against the stop 58, the axial pressure exerted on the clutchplate 20 by each weight 16 is five times the centrifugal force acting on each weight. The rollers. 90 and surfaces engaged thereby comprise a, relatively simple anti-friction construction for providing an amplified clutch engaging pressure. Since the opposite sides of the rollers 90 engage parallel surfaces, there is no sliding between the rollers 90 and their engaged surfaces. Accordingly, if desired. the clutch may be operated. drythat is, without lubricating .oil. Also,'as illustrated, rollers 90 have a hollow thin-walled construction whereby each roller distorts slightly under load in proportion to the magnitude of its load. In this way,

the load is distributed substantially evenly between the rollers .in spite of. manufacturing tolerances.

.When the input shaft I0 is idle, the weights 16 are located by the rollers 90 which engage, under pressure from the springs 14, shoulders 96 and 91 formed at the converging ends of the wedge sections 8| and 82 respectively and also "engage companion shoulders 98, 99, I90 or llll of their associated grooves 83, 84, 85 or 86. Accordingly, each. time the springs 14 retract the weights 16, said shoulders provide abutment stops limiting inward travel of 'the'weights under pressurefrom the springs 14 whereby'each'roller is correctly positioned for subsequentoutward movement of its weight 16 even though slight creepage of one grooves is: made quite simple. r

or more of the rollers should have'occurred while the clutch was engaged: This provisionavoids the. necessity of providing a cage or other spacing means for the rollers 90.

As best illustrated in Figurei, each pair of grooves 83 and 84 onthe disc portion of the flywheel I6 is disposed radially inwardly of one of the slots 28in the flywheel rim 30. In addition, each slot 28 is wider than the length of the grooves 83 and 84. With this constructionj-the s'lots28 permit passage of the-spindle of a milling cutter. Sand/or grinder thereby facilitating niach'ining ofthe grooves 83 and84. Also, since' the grooves 11', 18, I9, 80, 83, 84', 85:and 86-.are all identical, the samecutter and/or grinder'c'an-be used formachining each pair of thegrooves whereby the provision of properly matching I In the case of.-an automotive-transmission;it is desirable that the pperator be able to accelerate the engine above its idle range without-"starting the vehicle-"4dr exampleyas "is conventional practice-in order to keep the, engine operating while the engine is still cold; To

this end, manually operable means are provided to prevent radially outward movement of Thus, a plurality of pins I02,

the weights "I6. one for each weight I6, are each slidably suptwo way resilient connections are-conventional 'iand form no partof the presentinvention.

While: I have described my invention. indetail inits .presentpreferred embodiment, it 'will abe obvious, to those skilled in'the art, afterunderstanding my invention, that variousv changes-and modifications maygbemade therein without departing from the spiritor scope thereof. -I aim in .the-appended-claims to cover all such modifications.

=:1I'claim.as; my invention:

' .l. :A centrifugal clutch :comprisingazrotary input member, a pair of clutchmembers co-axial .aWith Fsaidinputa member,,. means drivablycon necting one .of said clutch members withv said input-member, said clutch members being movable toward' each other for effecting clutch engagement, aweight rotatable: with said input memberand being -radially movable relative to :said input member in response to the centrifugal force acting on said weight,: saidweight :havin'g a a wedge portion, roller means cooperating r with 'sai'cl --W-ed'ge portion for moving said clutch mem- -bers into engagement in response to radially ported radially outward of its associated weight to the left against the springs I04. As illustrated,

leftward movement of' the pins I02 is limited by engagement of the annular plate I06 with the clutch retaining plate 22. Each pin I02 is provided with a stop-collar II2 which prevents any appreciably radially outward movement of its associated weight I6 when the pins I02 are in their leftward position as illustrated by their full line position in Figure 1, thereby positively preventing engagement of the clutch I4.

When the control arm I08 is in its right-hand or dotted-line position (Figure 1) the springs I04 move the pins I02 to the right. The right side (Figure 1) of each weight 16 is provided with a recess II 4 and a notch IIG adapted respectively to receive its associated stop collar H2 and pin I02 when the pins I02, are thus retracted to the right, thereby permitting radially outward movement of the weights I6. With this construction, by first rotating the control arm I08 to its left-hand position, as illustrated in Figure l, the operator can accelerate the engine and input shaft I0 to any desired speed without causing engagement of the clutch I4.

For simplicity, each clutch plate 34 has been illustrated as rigidly connected to the output shaft I2. Preferably, however, a two-way resilient connection is interposed therebetween as illustrated in Figure 6. In Figure 7, the clutch plate 34' and hub 36' correspond to the clutch plate 34 and hub 36 respectively of Figure 1 and annular plates I20 and I22 are secured thereto. The plates I20 and I22 are provided with a plurality of substantially rectangular openings with springs I24 retained therein, as illustrated, for transmitting the torque from one of the plates I20 and I22 to the other of these plates. Such outward movement of said weight, an annular rim on said input member and surrounding said" Weight for limiting radially outward movement of said weight, an abutment rotatable with and movable relative to said input member, and

means for moving said abutment to a position approximately radially outwardly of, the center of gravity of said weight in engagement with the inner surface of said input memberrim and between said input member rim and said weight to prevent clutch engagement by radially out- Ward movement of said weight.

2. A centrifugal clutch comprising a rotary' input member, a pair of clutch members coaxial with said input member, means drivably connecting one of said clutch members with said input member, said clutch members being movable toward each other for efiectingclutch engagement, a weight rotatable with said input member and being radially movable relative to said input member in response to the centrifugal force acting on said weight, said weight having a wedge portion, roller means cooperating with said wedge portion for moving said clutch members into engagement in response to radially outward movement of said weight, an annular rim on said input member and surrounding said weight for limiting radially outward movement of said weight, an abutment rotatable with and movable relative to said input member, and means for moving said abutment to a position in engagement with the inner surface of said input member rim between said input member rim and said weight to prevent clutch engagement by radially outward movement of said weight.

3. A centrifugal. clutch comprising a rotary input member, a pair of clutch members co-axial with said input member, means drivably connecting one of said clutch members with said input member, said clutch members being mov- I able toward each other for effecting clutch engagement, a plurality of circumferentially spaced weights rotatable with said input member, a

plurality of pairs of cylindrical rollers, one pair 1 for each of said weights, the rollers of each pair being parallel and spaced radially of each other with the axis of each roller being spaced from and disposed transverse to the clutch axis, each of said rollers having a hollow open-ended tubular construction and having its exterior sur- Fiace disposed between and in rolling engagement with a wedge surface: portion of its associated gagement of said clutch members in response to ;radially outward movement of said weights.

":94: A. centrifugal clutch comprising a rotary in- ,put member, a pair of clutch members co-axial with said input member, means drivably connecting one of said clutch members with said input member, said clutch members being movable toward each other for effecting clutch engagement, 'a'plurality of circumferentially spaced weights rotatable with said input member, a pluralityof pairs of cylindrical rollers, each of said weights having a pair of'said cylindrical rollers between it ,andsaid input member, and having another pair of said cylindrical rollers between it and aoneojf said clutch members such that radially outward movement of saidlweights is efiective toflcause engagement of said clutch members, eachpair of cylindrical rollers being parallel and .spacedradially of each other with eachv roller having a hollow open-ended tubular construcverse; tothe clutch axis.

-8 tionwith its axis spaced from and disposed trans- EFEaENcsZ, rial). 'The following references are of record the file of this patentz v I UNrT D's'rATEs, pA'rEN'rs f r I Date umber Name 1' 1,720,766 fspahr j- 1 July 16,1929 1,855,643 1 Matthews Apr., 26,;1932 1,930,172 Lalonde Oct. '10, ;1933 2,145,381 Y Wemp 1 Jan. 31,1939 2,172,991 Segard Sept.,123-1939 -2,-2 3 2,454' Haupt Feb. 18,1941 2,239,161 Wemp :Apr. 22,;1941 2,239,163 Wemp Apr. 22,1941 2,423,979 Jensen July 15, v1947 FOREIGN PATENTS f l Number Country Date 546,782 Germany Mar. 17, 1932 655,371 4 Germany Jan. 14, 1938 

